Bella
by Flick Chick Vique
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Bella limps in with 2 Red Vines |
It has all the hallmarks of things I love: a tender story of love and friendship, a proud ethnic family, a mixture of cultures and languages, all beautifully photographed. Yet, for some reason, Bella failed to capture my heart.
Bella is set on the modern streets of New York City and centers around a Mexican family.
Jose (Eduardo Veràstegui) is on the fast track to become an international soccer star until a car accident derails his promising career. Marked by the tragedy, he descends into a withdrawn and quiet life. Instead of tossing balls he spends his days tossing ingredients as the head chef at his brother Manny’s restaurant.
Manny (Manny Perez) is everything Eduardo isn’t. He’s driven, successful, a bit of a tyrant, impeccably groomed. Eduardo has descended into looking like Cat Stevens and not the cute version from the 70’s. But he is a good chef who’s well liked and respected by the restaurant staff. Nina (Tammy Blanchard) is a waitress at the restaurant, the one who is chronically late. Finally Manny is pushed too far and fires the young waitress for her tardiness. But Nina has bigger problems, she has just found out she is pregnant and doesn’t know what to do.
Nina finds in Jose a kindred spirit, for he walks out on Manny just to spend the day with Nina and help her through her problems. In the course of the day they visit his family and have dinner with them. We realize that the day’s events have a big impact when the movie flash forwards to the ending and we see all the decisions the characters ended up making.
There have been some really charming independent films of late, featuring talented creative folks in front of and behind the camera. This year’s Waitress, Sea of Dreams and 2 Days in Paris come to mind immediately. Some mix foreign languages with English, which is always unique and realistic. Bella does all these things but somehow the mix is off.
While Tammy Blanchard does an admirable job with her confusion and vulnerability and Manny Perez handles his bossy attitude nicely, I felt the other performances didn’t ring very true. There was no natural flow. No ebb and tide. Jose’s parents were particularly annoying to me. I was always aware that they were ‘acting’.
This is a ‘message’ movie and while I have no problem with the point they were getting across, I just didn’t feel it. Bella is obviously meant to be a warm, loving movie that is a celebration of family. Me, personally? Well I was just left cold.
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